Invasion of Firestorm Citadel (Part 3)
by IronCladPaladin
Summary: The final ending to the entire battle closes with a finishing display of fireworks.


Aquasword paced nervously around the camp. They had moved the camp forwards, sprinkling the anti-spawn dust everywhere. The courtyard was now covered, and if any monster appeared from the doors, they would instantly be shot from 400 meters away. He had ordered reinforcements in, and had waited for Rioklu to come back. By nightfall, it was clear something went wrong. At about 1 in the morning, a figure appeared on the horizon. Aquasword looked through his binoculars. It was a knight, slowly limping back.

"Open the gates! Send assistance! Be careful!" Aquasword yelled as 3 medics and 15 knights ran to meet the lone survivor. He was instantly taken to the hospital, where he demanded to see Aquasword.

"Bill! It's you! What happened? Where's everyone else!?" Aquasword asked.

"W-w- we lost, A-Aquasword..." he stuttered. "I'm the only one that made it out."

Aquasword and the other knights in the room looked down in despair.

"B-b-but... Rioklu is still alive. They captured her. I saw it with my own eyes... Promise me, Aquasword. Promise me that you will get her back. Th-they... they're going to kill her. Promise me!"

"I-I promise, Bill," Aquasword said.

"B-be careful Aquasword... be careful..."

With that, Bill's life force died. The light in his eyes and armor slowly faded. Aquasword looked away... then thought very carefully. As long as Lord Vanaduke stands... Firestorm Citadel cannot be destroyed. By 3 o clock, Aquasword had arranged a rescue party composed of himself, three elite knights, and, believe it or not, the Cloaked One himself. By 5 they had infiltrated the castle, and was sneaking among the ducts to the prison rooms.

* * *

Rioklu woke up with a hurting sensation in her head. She was chained to the wall, her hands above her head. She quickly took stock of the room she was in. It was obviously a jail cell, with no light, iron bars, and a single iron door. Her weapons had been confiscated. Two slag guards marched in, and due to her size, simply grabbed her in its fist.

"Hey! Let me down!" Rioklu yelled, feebly kicking her legs and moving her head up and down. The guards took her down numerous hallways filled with monsters and fire, and tied her to a chair.

"Oh, dear Rioklu..." a voice said from the darkness.

"Show yourself!" Rioklu yelled.

From the darkness the slag walker with the spear stepped into the light. "How I would love to torture you. However the Lord requests that I do not... severely harm you."

"I hope you remember that scar, because it's staying there forever!" Rioklu countered.

The slag scowled and pointed at something in the darkness. Instantly, a shocking bolt electrified her.

"GAHHHHHHH!" she yelled. When it stopped, she slumped down, taking huge breaths.

"That's what happens to those who don't listen," the slag said. "Now you're going to answer these questions, good and clear."

* * *

Inside the rafters, Purplewarlord stared down. Aquasword had his blitz drawn, but the Master of Shadows stuck out his hand. Rioklu was zapped three more times before the guards took her back to her cell. Purplewarlord instantly crawled back, and ended up in the hallway of the prison cells. Three slag guards were in the hallways, patrolling. Purplewarlord looked at Aquasword, and then nodded his head to the one at the end of the hall.

"Oh fine, fine," Aquasword submitted as he crawled down the rafters. Purplewarlord then looked at the two elites, and quickly told them to follow him. He gave a signal, and in a flash had broken in and his daggers were flying towards the two patrols. At the end of the hall, one of the rafters shuddered, and swearing could be heard as Aquasword tried to break through. The slag guard looked up confusingly. Purplewarlord only stood in the hall, face palmed. Finally the rafter broke and Aquasword came down, screaming.

"AAAH! DIEE!" He landed on top of the slag and smashed its head in. It fell down, Aquasword giving another triumphant cry, but when he saw Purplewarlord, he quieted down and stared around innocently. In a flash Purplewarlord had smashed the door, and carried Rioklu out. Aquasword found a hidden switch and decided to press it. All of the prisoner's gates were opened, and knights ran out, crying for revenge. The bad thing was that the alarm sounded, and all monsters in Firestorm Citadel charged towards the prison cells.

"Fire." Aquasword said into a remote. Instantly, thousands upon thousands of knights broke in the windows of the citadel, and loaded in carts of weapons for the 10,000 prisoners. Ten frigates hovered around the citadel, blasting the castle with lasers as smaller fighters dashed around, bombing and strafing the castle. The monsters responded by loading fire cannons into open windows and firing into the ships. The knights from the camp charged in, approximating 4,000 with 15,000 reinforcements. More came by transports from the frigates. Firestorm Citadel was under full siege.

The knights flooded into the hallways, knocking down any who stood in their way. One a Trojan rammed forwards, slowing the momentum of the knights a little, before he was pushed down by sheer force and beaten. A few times knights did fall, but many were there to take their place. Finally the knights barged into Vanaduke's humongous throne room. Aquasword and a few other super elite knights stepped forward.

"Today, Vanaduke, your kingdom shall fall, and every terror you place on the Spiral Knights shall be ended."

Through the ring of fire, Lord Vanaduke stared at the enemy from the other side. These... menaces come to destroy him once and for all. And although their numbers are very high, he would go down in a fight. He slowly stood up and grabbed his scepter. Pushing his palms together, he called down his ancestors through his mind, and with a yell, fused himself into Darkfire Vanaduke. His scepter glowed with a burning flame. Vanaduke smashed the butt into the ground, and an army of slag guardians and trojans rose from the ground. An assortment of other enemies were thrown in as well, not to mention almost twenty grim totems had risen strategically around his throne room.

With that, he and his army marched in perfect formation towards the enemy. The knights fired water into the area, but that failed to stop Vanaduke. With a yell, both sides collided in a violent battle. Chaos broke loose as a fierce battle unfolded. Gunpuppies were firing everywhere. Fire and water blasted every space available. Vanaduke smashed the mass of knights with his scepter, killing dozens, but more took their place, and a barrage of gunfire blasted the enemy formation. Hundreds of enemies fell, but were revived by the grim totems and continued towards the knights. However, dozens of knights fell as well. Aquasword and his comrades charged into battle, slicing off a slag walker's head and smashing his Triglav into a lumber's brain. 2,000 knights charged and attacked Vanaduke. However, the lord's wall of slag guardians prevented their attack. One attempted to spear Aquasword, but he blocked it with his Ironmight shield and counterattacked by dodging through the line and smashing his sword against the giant's core. He dashed forward, but Vanaduke only brushed him off with his scepter. Aquasword flew back and hit the wall, slumping down. His followers had little success. Two were killed and the others thrown away.

* * *

Rioklu woke, expecting to be in the same prison room, groggily groaning. Suddenly, the sounds of a battle exploded into her ears, and she snapped awake instantly. The shocks were still there, she would never forget, but she pushed that aside and saw her trusty Divine Avenger lying next to her. She had been placed in a safe, small corner. As she looked out, a vast number of knights were battling an equal number of enemies. However, the knights were clearly losing. A number of monsters were smashing through the lines. She jumped up, pushing grogginess away, and climbed up a rock until she was fairly higher than everyone else.

"KNIGHTS OF HAVEN! RALLY TO THE SWORD! RALLY TO THE SWORD!" she yelled.

Everyone looked up at the glowing figure. Their leader had returned, and morale had gained a great boost. With a yell, she jumped down and joined her comrades as they surged forward. The wave surged past the first and second lines until they reached the guardians. There, a massive battle ensued. Countless numbers of knights died, but slowly, the guardians fell, and soon, they were charging on Vanaduke. The front of the charge was instantly killed when part of a ceiling fell. Suddenly, the ground exploded and more knights were flung into the air. The area in front of them was rigged. More helpless knights were blasted apart. It came down to 4,000 attackers remaining. Outside, a flurry of laser fire assaulted and silenced Firestorm Citadel's last defenses. Rioklu urged her forces forward, dodging past bullet fire from a few enemies, and jumping up to slice her sword across Vanaduke's face. He fell back in agony, but drew his mace up to smash more knights. The cry of the wounded was deafening. More slag walkers were resurrected. From behind, a fresh force of enemies converged on the knights. On the top ledges, lumbers and gremlins appeared. It had all been a trap.

"AH HA HA!" Lord Vanaduke laughed. "You foolish fools! Now you shall meet your ultimate demise! ATTACK MY MINIONS! ATTACK!"

The hundreds of enemies upon the ledges and at the doorway rushed forward. The sounds of steel and metal hitting flesh, bones, and fire burning was ringing about. Yells of anguish and death followed quickly. It seemed that wherever Rioklu looked, a faithful knight was struck down. Then, a savior appeared.

"KNIGHTS OF HAVEN! STAND FAST!" a gruff voice yelled over the throng. Slowly, the sounds of battle faded and everyone, even the enemies, turned to stare at the Cloaked One, who was perched upon a ledge. He slowly drew out his Nitronome. Then, his eyes squinted, and he jumped down into the midst of the enemies. Behind him, waves of reinforcements joined the fight from above. To make things better, three holes were blasted into the wall of the throne room. The frigates now had clear fire into the fortress. They bombarded the enemy with artillery, even smoking and blasting a few of the grim totems. A fresh battle resumed. Vanaduke threw his scepter out the window. It spun through the air before smashing into the support tanks of one of the frigates. His scepter flew back into his hand before the lower part of the large ship exploded and the flagship spun out of control. It crashed into the ground and exploded. The other ships flew away from fear and danger. There were now 3,000 knights remaining. Vanaduke was almost dead. 2,500. Fire blasts out, wiping out another 100. 1,600 soldiers. More monsters flooded in from the halls. 1,000 soldiers left. A charged shot from Rioklu smashed Vanaduke down. More soldiers inflicted damage upon him.

"Your line of reign ends here, Vanaduke," Rioklu said.

"One of you shall die," the king spit back viciously. "You will lose in the end!"

With those final words, an ice infused stab killed the lord where he lay.

* * *

Even with their master dead, Rioklu turned around to find only 500 soldiers remaining. Transports were taking the troops as they fled the citadel. The Cloaked One was already in a transport, waiting for his two "friends". Aquasword surveyed the remaining troops before he made the decision.

"Rioklu, go. I can handle this," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Never! I'm not leaving without you!" she harshly replied.

"Rioklu, listen! Those soldiers need you! Haven needs you! We don't have time to argue! Those slags will be resurrected in 20 seconds. Vanaduke will come back in 5 minutes. Besides... someone's got to do it. Slowly, he had led Rioklu to the edge of the window, which was a 2,000 foot drop to the bottom of the citadel. They briefly hugged, then, before she realized it, he had let go, and she was falling through the air. Horror gripped her, but instantly she dismissed it when a transport ship caught her and she watched the citadel sadly. A shock-wave from the center of the castle ripped the place in half. Then, the top collapsed on the lower part. A huge explosion rocked the earth. Fire blasted out of multiple areas. Smoke clouded the castle. Even through that, more explosions could be heard as dust filled the area. Then, a massive explosion 2x the castle filled the area with blinding light. Another shock-wave finished up the fireworks of dread. Rioklu hug her head. It was over. The battle was over. They were the true losers.


End file.
